Healthy habits important for diabetes
November 15, 2004
Experts pushed for more simple strategies to prevent diabetes, a potentially devastating disease.
The world greeted its 13th World Diabetes Day with the campaign slogan "Fight Obesity, Prevent Diabetes" yesterday.
Weight and obesity are the main modifiable risk factors leading to type 2 diabetes, often called adult, non-insulin-dependent diabetes, reported China Daily.
Ji Linong, an endocrinologist from the People's Hospital with Peking University, has noticed a clear change in the typical diabetes patient.
"Ten years ago, diabetes patients were thin and old. Now, however, the patients I have seen are commonly obese and much younger," said Ji at a recent seminar on the prevention of diabetes, which attracted endocrinologists and cardiologists to Beijing.
In recent years, the intensity of the diabetes awareness education has significantly surged and new drugs and therapies have emerged.
However, the incidence of diabetes has not slowed.
Simple lifestyle changes such as a healthy diet and physical activity can delay and, in many cases, prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. For people with diabetes, diet and activity can reduce complications, experts say.
It is estimated that at least half of all cases of type 2 diabetes could be prevented by avoiding weight gain.
However, many people only understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle after their lives have been threatened.
One diabetes sufferer who is in his late 40s, was diagnosed 10 years ago.
He was hospitalized at the Anzhen Hospital in Beijing after a heart attack this spring.
It wasn't until after the heart attack that he truly understood the potentially devastating effect of diabetes.
In his words, he could not control his "greedy appetite" for delicious food with a high fat content.
According to a survey conducted by the Magazine of Diabetes Patients' Friends, among the 2,596 respondents, more than half have a college education or higher.
Alarmingly, a lot of them are teachers.
"Teachers generally work under high pressure and lack of physical exercise. Also, they tend to be careless about a healthy lifestyle and their diet," said Dr. Ji. "They are more likely to develop obesity, which finally leads to high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and high blood sugar."
Source:http://news.xinhuanet.com
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